Chapter 142
Ella and Zachary spent the whole day out with Dorian, only returning to the Lewis family home in the evening.
As soon as the three of them entered, they saw quite a few people sitting in the living room.
The Thomas family, all three of them, and the Lewis family, also three people.
Everyone's eyes turned to them in unison.
Ella didn't want to see a certain someone, so she took Dorian's hand to go upstairs.
Joshua immediately stood up and called out, "Ella."
He was about to walk over, but Heath stood up and blocked him, "Joshua, can't you see Ella doesn't want to deal with you? Your family should leave now."
The Thomas family used to be way out of their league.
Ava used to act so superior in front of them.
Now that they knew Dorian was their grandson, they shamelessly came to butter them up.
Wanting them to convince Ella to get back together with Joshua for Dorian's sake.
As if things were that easy.
Joshua knew this was the Lewis family's territory, and he couldn't do whatever he wanted.
With Heath blocking him from getting close to Ella, he could only watch helplessly as Ella and Dorian disappeared.
But Zachary didn't go upstairs. He walked toward them instead.
Looking at Zachary, Joshua would be lying if he said he didn't feel threatened.
After all, this Zachary was younger than him, good-looking, and from a well-off family.
Dorian seemed to really like him.
A man like this competing with him for Ella, he had no confidence he could win.
"Mr. Lewis, Mrs. Lewis."
Zachary ignored Joshua's look that seemed ready to devour him, and greeted Heath and Rhea.
Heath and Rhea invited him to sit.
Seeing the Thomas family still refusing to leave and insisting on staying, Heath's face darkened, "You know very well how your family treated Ella before. Now that you know Dorian is Joshua's child, you come running to be nice."
"You never respected Ella or Dorian."
"Forget about us convincing Ella. Whatever choice Ella makes in the end, we'll firmly support her and stand by her side."
"Please leave. We have guests."
Ava was about to try flattering them again, but Zachary spoke first, "Mr. Lewis, I actually have something to discuss with you too. I don't mind if Ella's ex-husband is present."
At this, everyone looked at Zachary.
Zachary sat there calmly, pulled out a bank card and placed it in front of Heath and Rhea, saying gently, "Mr. Lewis, this card has all my assets, about 500 million US dollars."
"I'm formally asking for Ella's hand in marriage. The 500 million dollars is my wedding gift. I hope you'll approve of Ella and me being together."
However, when he said this, everyone was stunned.
Before Heath and Rhea could react, Joshua immediately spoke up to object, "Zachary, why are you butting in? I'm Dorian's father. Do you think I'd allow Ella to marry you and have my child call you dad?"
When he said this, Joshua didn't have much confidence.
After all, he and Ella were already divorced.
And he had indirectly caused the death of his own biological daughter.
Ella must hate him to death.
How could she possibly get back together with him?
But Dorian was the Thomas family's child, and they had to bring Dorian home.
"Mr. Thomas, what are you to Ella now? What right do you have to stop Ella from doing what she wants?"
Zachary looked at him with a mocking smile, "Not only are you already divorced, but in Dorian's heart, he would never accept you."
"When we went out today, Dorian was urging us to get married quickly, so we wouldn't be bothered by someone like you."
"For a three-year-old to say something like that, do you know how much he dislikes you?"
Zachary's few words made Joshua feel extremely embarrassed.
But he still clung to his pride and said stubbornly, "Dorian's just a kid who doesn't understand. You're taking his casual words seriously? No matter what, he's still my child. Zachary, I suggest you go back where you came from and stop meddling in other people's business."
He was making threats, or else there would be consequences.
Zachary wasn't stupid. He could hear what Joshua was implying.
But if he were afraid, he wouldn't have given up everything in Eldoria and come to Emerald City with only 500 million dollars.
"Mr. Thomas has such authority. I don't believe you can destroy me the way you killed Aurora."
Zachary wasn't backing down either, deliberately bringing up Aurora to shut him up.
Hearing Aurora's name, Joshua felt a stab in his chest.
Pain spread through his ribcage.
He opened his mouth to speak again, but his throat was so swollen and painful he couldn't make a sound.
Ava immediately defended Joshua, "How can you blame Joshua for Aurora's death?"
"If we'd known earlier that both children were the Thomas family's, we never would have treated them that way."
Looking at Rhea, Ava lowered her stance and pleaded, "We're all parents who want the best for our children. Dorian is still young and really needs to grow up in a complete family."
"We've known each other for years, and our families know each other well. Can you let Ella and Dorian return to Joshua's side?"
Rhea kept a straight face, standing tall in front of Ava for the first time, "My husband already said we respect Ella's choice. Whatever she does, we'll support. Talking to me is useless."
Heath, to make his position clear, picked up Zachary's card, "Your proposal is a bit sudden, but I can see Ella has feelings for you. As long as Ella is willing to be with you, we support you both."
He was deliberately doing this for the Thomas family to see.
Of course, they also knew Zachary was deliberately doing this in front of the Thomas family.
So they'd cooperate with each other.
"Mr. Lewis."
Joshua disagreed and strongly objected, "You don't know this person at all. How can you let Ella be with him? As far as I know, the Baker family cares a lot about appearances. They'd never allow Ella in."
"That's not for Mr. Thomas to worry about."
Zachary took over, confronting Joshua with equal presence, "You should think about why Dorian and Ella dislike you so much they won't even look at you. To avoid being disgusting, your family should leave first."
Not wanting to argue with this family anymore, he looked at Heath and Rhea and stood up, "Mr. Lewis, you sit. I'll go upstairs to keep Ella and Dorian company."
"Go ahead."
Heath and Rhea had a good attitude toward Zachary.
At least he was much more pleasant to look at than Joshua.
After watching him go upstairs, Rhea looked at Joshua's face that had suddenly turned dark and sighed, "You've seen it. Ella has no shortage of suitors. You should go back. I'm sorry I can't fulfill your request."
She signaled Mason to see them out.
Mason had been sitting there distracted the whole time.
His mind was full of thoughts about Scarlett, not paying attention to what the two families were talking about.
When Rhea pushed him, he lazily said to Joshua, "You should go back for now and think things over."
"I'm not leaving."
Joshua sat there shamelessly. Thinking about Zachary being there and proposing to the Lewis family, jealousy was about to explode in his heart.
If he left, what if Ella ran off with Dorian and Zachary overnight?
Where would he find them then?
Only by keeping an eye on the mother and son could he feel at ease.
"If you don't leave, you'll only make Ella hate you more."
Heath's face was stern. He wanted to have the Thomas family thrown out, but was afraid it would affect the cooperation between the two companies.
Sometimes facing such shameless people, they were really helpless.
"How about this. His dad and I will leave, but let Joshua stay. Consider it giving Joshua one more chance for the sake of our years of friendship, okay?"
Ava signaled to Jasper, who had been silent and useless the whole time, to get up and leave.
Before leaving, she told the Lewis family, "That young man offering you 500 million dollars for a proposal is a bit cheap. As long as you agree to let Ella bring Dorian back to the Thomas family, the Thomas family is willing to offer half our assets as compensation."
As long as Dorian returned to the Thomas family to acknowledge his roots, never mind half the Thomas family's assets, even the entire Thomas family inheritance would be Dorian's.
Seeing that Heath and Rhea were very unhappy, Ava didn't say more and quickly pulled Jasper away.
Joshua just refused to leave.
Even though no one in the Lewis family gave him a pleasant look, he acted like he was in his own home, having the housekeeper prepare a guest room for him. He was going to stay and watch over Ella and Dorian.
Heath, Rhea, and Mason had no choice but to let him.
Upstairs, after playing all day, Dorian was sleepy and had already fallen asleep.
Ella had been keeping him company, but Zachary called her to the balcony garden on the other side.
Zachary confessed about what happened downstairs, proposing to her parents with 500 million dollars.
Ella didn't blame him.
While they were chatting, Rhea came over in her wheelchair, pushed by the housekeeper.
Ella quickly went to take over, asking Rhea, "Did those people leave?"
Rhea sighed, looking at Ella with concern, "Ava and the others left, but we can't get rid of Joshua. He insists on staying. We really have no way to deal with him."
She glanced at Zachary.
She actually hoped that if the two young people were compatible, getting together sooner rather than later wouldn't be bad.
This might make Joshua give up.
Ella had always known that Joshua could be pretty inhuman sometimes.
She just didn't expect he could be shameless to this degree.
He was actually staying here and refusing to leave.
What was his purpose in staying?
To beg her to get back together?
To have her take Dorian back to Tranquil Villa with him?
He was dreaming.
After a moment of silence, Ella said, "If he wants to stay, let him stay. We'll just pretend he doesn't exist."
Knowing Heath and Rhea had done their best, she didn't need to blame them.
Ella held Rhea's hand and was about to say something else when Rhea worriedly spoke first, "Ella, you won't take Dorian and leave us because Joshua won't go away, will you?"
"Can you please not leave? Mom and Dad really can't be without you. If you leave, Mom won't have any hope left to live."
Ella had indeed thought about leaving.
The words were on the tip of her tongue.
Hearing Rhea's pleading, she forcefully swallowed them back.
To keep Rhea from being sad, she could only reluctantly agree for now.
At this moment, the housekeeper nearby reminded them, "Mrs. Lewis, Ms. Garcia, Mr. Thomas is coming."
They looked up and saw Joshua in a classic black suit, with an outstanding presence, walking toward them.